A Batesville man with multiple felony warrants was arrested earlier this month after authorities investigated allegations of inappropriate online contact with a minor, according to court records.
Batesville Police Officer Sam Stone attempted to locate Thomas Wayne Ashcraft Jr. (pictured below), 39, on Jan. 14 regarding the warrants. According to Ashcraft’s arrest affidavit, Stone received information that Ashcraft had participated in wrestling events at the old Miller Gym on Oak Street in early December and may have been living there.
Stone contacted the owner of a local wrestling promotion, who said Ashcraft had been let go about a month earlier for failing to provide proof that he was not on parole or a registered sex offender.
On Jan. 17, authorities executed a search warrant on Ashcraft’s Snapchat account after the mother of a 14-year-old reported that he had attempted to contact the juvenile.
Ashcraft was taken into custody on Feb. 7 and booked into the Independence County Jail on multiple warrants. The following day, he was interviewed by Detective Brenda Bittle.
According to court records, Ashcraft told Bittle that he would send social media requests to underage females as part of his wrestling persona because “he liked to have them as fans.” When asked whether his phone contained any inappropriate images, Ashcraft denied it and voluntarily provided his passcode.
A search warrant on the phone yielded images of girls as young as 12 and some juveniles of an undetermined age, the affidavit said.
Court documents also noted Ashcraft was convicted in 2010 of sexual solicitation/indecency with a child and ordered to register as a sex offender. Since that date, he has been charged three times for failure to register.
Ashcraft is currently being held at the Independence County Jail on a bond $150,000. He is facing six felony charges of distributing, possessing, or viewing of matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child. He is also being charged as a habitual offender.
Image: Independence County Sheriff’s Department
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